Opinion: Young career choices shape life

I miss the everyday contact with them, both in the classroom and one-on-one. Many of the latter sessions involved discussing their career goals. Even today, I think about what I might say to young job seekers.

Although I was concerned with college students, my advice would be the same to all, regardless of their status.

I would say to get whatever education is necessary to do what you want to do. If it requires undergraduate and/or graduate degrees, do it. Educational requirements are well nigh impossible to bypass.

If your chosen career requires an associate degree or technical school training, there are plenty of schools with good programs available. On-the-job training may be the passport into some professions.

It should come as no surprise that virtually any career you might have in mind will demand fairly sophisticated computer skills.

Advancing technologies will continue to raise the requirements for just about all careers.

Since educational preparation must be on your radar, you need to decide a career to study. With the exception of highly technical training programs, most educational programs have enough flexibility to allow changes.

Until my junior year in college, I was aiming for a media career; two years later, I was a high school teacher.

Take charge

All that I have said so far about preparing yourself for the future is founded on what I believe to be the best piece of advice I can give: Take charge of your life. That’s right, it’s your life. Take charge of preparing for it.

Using whatever counseling you might need, decide what you want to do, and educate yourself to do it. Others might influence you, but choices should be yours. Part-time or summer jobs while in school can help with learning to assume responsibility and how to work.

Taking charge means that you don’t stand around waiting for someone to come along and offer you the job of your dreams. That might be the stuff of movie plots, but it’s not a real-life scenario.

Interview tips

Once you have prepared yourself, the moment of truth arrives: job interviews.

It has been said that much of life is just showing up. That may be true, but how you show up is what counts. You need to dress and groom yourself so you look like someone an employer might want to have around the workplace.

First impressions are likely to affect lasting impressions.

Your dress and manner while hanging with your friends is not the same as when you sit across the desk from the person with the power to jumpstart your working life.

Now that you are properly dressed for the interview, what’s next? When you show up, look like you want the job.

The employer is looking for someone who will make a positive contribution to the organization. You increase your chances immeasurably if you maintain eye contact, smile rather than frown, and please, don’t mumble.

If you really want this job, do your homework about the organization. The more you know, the better equipped you will be to answer questions; when the opportunity arrives, you can ask the right questions.

Being hired is the beginning, not the end of the process.

Keep on working hard and never stop learning; this is the formula for climbing the career ladder.

You may spend your work life with one organization or move on to others. You may even go into business for yourself.

With you in control, you will have a lot to say about the direction of your career and lifestyle.

For what it’s worth, that’s what I would tell them.

Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury University.[[In-content Ad]]